APRIL 5, 2021 BY LAURIE MONTOYA LEAVE A COMMENT
It is a well-know fact that the public does not watch for motorcycles no matter how many billboards, advertising or campaigns the National Department of Transportation puts out. Distracted driving continues to be a systemic problem and comes in many forms including texting/driving, use of hand-held mobile devices while driving, running stop lights/stop signs, putting on their make up while the car is moving and even looking back at your kids to changing a radio station. Motorcycle riders have a 60% chance of being hit by a cagers with some form of distracted driving than rider error or excessive speed.
Our riding community continues to be the victim of irresponsible drivers who are out driving with no driver’s license and little to no insurance and driver’s leaving accident victims on the ground and leaving the scene. Driver’s change lanes without looking and run stop signs/lights, hit the biker and keep on going.
BikerDown Foundation received a Proclamation in 2015 from then Governor Hickenlooper proclaiming May17th as Colorado Motorcycle Awareness Day. This was quite an honor to be recognized by the state of Colorado for the good work that BikerDown has done for the motorcycle community. Since then, BikerDown has expanded our chapters to Nevada and Arizona and have biker advocates all over the country ready to help an injured rider in need. This kind of growth shows the epidemic problem with distracted driving in our communities.
On May 15th, BikerDown will again host the only motorcycle awareness ride in our chapter states called the Look Twice Save a Life ride. We are going to repeat the theme of last year with Can YOU SEE me NOW. These awareness shirts were a tremendous hit with riders no matter what you rode.
We are asking all riders in Nevada to register for this ride and we will send you a Can YOU SEE me NOW t-shirt and ask all riders on May 15th to gather together to honor our fallen and injured riders in our local community.
Registration is $25.00 per rider. Each rider who pre-registers will get 1 free month of motorcycle roadside assistance sponsored by Motorcycle Towing Services.
In Colorado, our ride will start and end this year at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden with kickstands up at 10-10:30 am. The Look Twice ride is known for great rides routes and safety is always key for this event. Dirty Dogs will have some great entertainment for our event, and our sponsors and biker community always donates great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.
Our sponsor for the ride is again Rider Justice. For over 8 years, Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com has supported this event as well as BikerDown Foundation to ensure that injured motorcycle riders have a resource to go when they go down.
